Data Field: Surf Tracker

[FONT=Arial Black]Surf Tracker[/FONT]

Version 1.20
https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/ded87d46-5477-4ca7-a247-847b896393e0

Track your surfing sessions in real time! This data field estimates the number of waves ridden using a speed and time threshold to mark the start and end of a wave ride.

Info shown (from left to right):

your total number of waves ridden and the total wave ride time (min:sec)
for your latest wave ride: wave ride time (seconds), maximum speed during the wave ride (km/hr or mph) and the distance covered (meters or yards)
the numbers in red show the maximum values for the wave ride time, speed and distance during the activity
For square watches, the bottom line shows the time of day and elapsed time of the activity. For round watches and the Vivo HR, the top line shows the time of day and the bottom line shows the elapsed time.

Notes:

1) This data field must be used in a 1-field data screen and should be set up before starting the activity. I use an Activity > Other > Paddle, but any activity with GPS ON should work. Open water swim will work but the GPS tracks are noisier since the sampling rate is lower, but it may be the better option for surfing when your arm is in and out of the water. Some activities smooth the speed data more than others and will give less accurate results (eg. a walking activity will not work as well as paddling or cycling). Vivoactive users try the Cycling activity, the Run activity will smooth the speed values to much to even out the Pace and this won't work well with the wave detection.

2) The summary stats and a speed plot are saved to Garmin Connect once the Activity is ended and saved:

3) This has been tested many times with standup paddle surfing. It has taken a while to get the thresholds working accurately. The detection thresholds can be changed using the Garmin Connect Mobile app (see https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?332843-How-to-App-Settings for help):

There are four settings to mark a wave ride based on speed, time and distance.

An event starts when the speed is >= 9 kph, it must last at least 6 seconds (above 9kph) and have a max speed of at least 13 kph to be counted. The event ends when it falls below 9kph. The min distance is set to 0m, but this can be changed to avoid false detections. These thresholds work well for standup paddle surfing, but try changing them and post your results. It should work for: standup paddle surfing, surfing, kayak surf, surf ski and maybe standup paddle downwinding.

Threshold ranges and defaults:
1) Start/stop threshold: default 9kph, range 5-50 kph
2) Time threshold: default 6s, range 2-60s
3) Max speed in event has to be >= 13kph, range 0-50kph
4) Min distance: default 0m (disabled), range 0-1000m

Typical values:
Standup paddle surfing: general setting for all waves
9kph, 6s, 13kph, 0m

Standup paddle downwinding (Hood River)
10kph, 10s, 12kph, 20m

4) The stats from each wave ride can be saved to a text file using the instructions at the bottom of the page (advanced users only, unsupported).

----------------- Planned Updates------------------

1) none hopefully

----------------- Version History ------------------

0.2 datafield now updates even when not visible.

0.3 added min distance to threshold test (now min 9km/hr for 5s and 15 m) to avoid paddling out/false wave counts, especially for SUP (eventually these values will be user selectable).

0.4 more tweaks after on-water tests (now min 9km/hr for 6sec), 19 waves and only 2 false readings and that was when I was chucked over the falls...

0.5 changed totdist and elapsed time to use the last good point of the event, instead of first one below the threshold, since when falling in it might take a while to get gps fix again and this will add to the waveride time. This should only decrease the wave ride time. The threshold test is now: >= 9km/hr for >= 6 sec and maxspeed >= 13 km/hr, redesign screen, add total wave ride time in min:sec

0.6 add fenix support.

0.7 bug fixed- crash when data field is in view and GPS just becomes active

0.8 D2Bravo, Epix and Vivoactive (separate app) support, compile using SDK 1.1.4. Latest numbers are green during an event (shows green if above speed threshold, even if below time threshold).

v0.9 new SDK 1.2.1, support for fr230/fr235

v0.95 new SDK, 2.1.3, support for Vivoactive HR

v1.0 added GCM settings for thresholds, changed distance calculation (should be shorter and more accurate), added 1 field Vivoactive support (got rid of the separate version)

v1.20 Garmin Connect summary stats and wave speed plot output
_________
** Advanced user only+unsupported method to save each wave ride to a text file on your device:

Place a *.TXT file in the /GARMIN/APPS/LOGS folder on your device, where * is the name of the .PRG file in the /GARMIN/APPS folder. Look for a file that is ~12 kilobytes. On my device it is 69SI5820.PRG, so I would create an empty file in /GARMIN/APPS/LOGS/69SI5820.TXT

To find out the filename, uninstall Surf Tracker, make a note of the *.PRG files in the /GARMIN/APPS folder, install Surf Tracker then note which PRG file is new.

Sample output format:
Wave# TimeofDay WaveRideTime(sec) WaveRideMaxSpeed(kph) WaveRideDistance(m)
1 07:26 20 28.8 113.4
2 07:28 13 27.6 76.8
3 07:33 21 30.2 122.2

Copy the file to your computer after a few sessions. I copy and paste the details into the notes section of the activity on Garmin Connect. The file will be appended to until it gets too big (10KB), then it will be overwritten. I had 3 days of sessions saved and it was only 1.8KB.

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vilec over 7 years ago

It looks like a bug with iOS 11 and Garmin Connect Mobile. Try the suggestions here or plug it into a computer and use Garmin Express:
https://forums.garmin.com/forum/developers/connect-iq/connect-iq-bug-reports/1275122-missing-app-settings-on-garmin-connect-mobile

Oh. I didn't notice about the white line. Thanks for that!

Former Member over 7 years ago

An event starts when the speed is >= 9 kph, it must last at least 6 seconds (above 9kph) and have a max speed of at least 13 kph to be counted. The event ends when it falls below 9kph.

Threshold ranges and defaults:
1) Start/stop threshold: default 9kph, range 5-50 kph
2) Time threshold: default 6s, range 2-60s
3) Max speed in event has to be >= 13kph, range 0-50kph
4) Min distance: default 0m (disabled), range 0-1000m

I don't understand what the max speed value is for.

If an event starts at >=Minimum Speed Threshold, and if the event is only counted if the Minimum Time is also achieved: i.e. >=9 kph for >6 seconds...

Why is there a need for a max speed threshold?

bwd1 over 7 years ago

Good question. I did a bunch of testing in the beginning and found that it was giving a lot of false readings when I used just the Min Speed and Min Time values. Waves that I tried to catch and missed were always being counted. To make the wave count more accurate I added the Max Speed threshold - it was rare to paddle for a wave and miss it and get the speed up that high, even on a SUP. It also lets you lower the Min Speed and Min Time thresholds and keep the Max Speed high to prevent false waves being counted. But you can always set Min Speed = Max Speed to turn it off and give it a try. The Min Distance is also another way to prevent false readings.

Former Member over 7 years ago

Fenix 3 HR with data field installed in SUP; data displays/records during surf session but won't show in Garmin Connect, except for graphs of wave ride speed and wave ride time. No tabular surf data displays. Any thoughts on this?

Former Member over 7 years ago

Could anyone suggest a good surfing app please or off some advice on how I add surf tracker 2 to my garmin vivoactive2 please

inMotionGraphics over 7 years ago

Hi Dave,

Firstly, thank you very much for all the hard work you've put into the development of this Datafield, and for making it available to us. I can just imagine how much work goes into maintaining it and helping everyone on the forum here.

I recently bought the Fenix 5 and installed your datafield on a copy of the SUP activity as a new Surfing activity. However, I've been getting some very strange readings on some metrics like a speed reading of over 230 km/h etc. I'm not sure if these issues are normal for the Fenix 5 and to be expected, or if I've set something up incorrectly with your datafield, or if I'm just misunderstanding the data perhaps? Would you mind taking a look at the following two short surf sessions I logged yesterday to see if you can shed some light on this and perhaps assist me in setting better parameters:

Session 2: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2414003433 (Speed graph shows 232 Km/h)

Session 1: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2413998777 (I think I might be getting some false positives in the wave count)

My current threshold settings are as follows: 12, 6, 15, 0

I can't imagine where such a high speed would come from, as I don't even reach anything close to this while kitesurfing.

I appreciate any assistance and insight you can provide on this.

Thank you.

Brendon

bwd1 over 7 years ago

Fenix 3 HR with data field installed in SUP; data displays/records during surf session but won't show in Garmin Connect, except for graphs of wave ride speed and wave ride time. No tabular surf data displays. Any thoughts on this?

Hi kbhew: this looks like the same GC bug that has been around for over a year. I would post the question here and try to get a response from Garmin. I don't have a F3 HR that I can use for testing:
https://forums.garmin.com/forum/developers/connect-iq/143517-

Could anyone suggest a good surfing app please or off some advice on how I add surf tracker 2 to my garmin vivoactive2 please

What is a Garmin Vivoactive 2?

I recently bought the Fenix 5 and installed your datafield on a copy of the SUP activity as a new Surfing activity. However, I've been getting some very strange readings on some metrics like a speed reading of over 230 km/h etc. I'm not sure if these issues are normal for the Fenix 5 and to be expected, or if I've set something up incorrectly with your datafield, or if I'm just misunderstanding the data perhaps? Would you mind taking a look at the following two short surf sessions I logged yesterday to see if you can shed some light on this and perhaps assist me in setting better parameters:

Hi Brendon: Thank you for the comments. I have seen a few reports like this and I had a look at your activity. From your first activity, the top speed plot has a lot of gaps and spikes in it. The GPS and speed values come from Garmin and I have no control over them (other than to smooth or remove spikes). The SurfTracker settings are basically just running on the data from the top Speed plot. It looks like your GPS readings are jumping around - are you wearing the watch outside of a wetsuit, have you tried turning on GLONASS, maybe try using another activity like Paddle or even Bike. In the new version of SurfTracker2 (2.50) I have added a "Ignore Speeds Above" setting which defaults to 40 kph. This will ignore any unreasonable speeds so they don't show up in the SurfTracker stats, but you still need to find out why your GPS data is poor.

Thanks
Dave

inMotionGraphics over 7 years ago

Hi Brendon: Thank you for the comments. I have seen a few reports like this and I had a look at your activity. From your first activity, the top speed plot has a lot of gaps and spikes in it. The GPS and speed values come from Garmin and I have no control over them (other than to smooth or remove spikes). The SurfTracker settings are basically just running on the data from the top Speed plot. It looks like your GPS readings are jumping around - are you wearing the watch outside of a wetsuit, have you tried turning on GLONASS, maybe try using another activity like Paddle or even Bike. In the new version of SurfTracker2 (2.50) I have added a "Ignore Speeds Above" setting which defaults to 40 kph. This will ignore any unreasonable speeds so they don't show up in the SurfTracker stats, but you still need to find out why your GPS data is poor.

Thanks
Dave

Hi Dave,

Thank you for getting back to me, and for your input on this issue. I suppose the GPS doesn't work while the watch is submerged under water, so this could explain why there are gaps and perhaps even spikes in the speed data. From what I understand, you use your watch for SUPing primarily, so your watch probably isn't submerged as much as mine is when surfing. I actually mainly use my watch for kitesurfing, and I can confirm that my watch tracks speed, distance and route perfectly while kitesurfing. I do get gaps in my heart rate data whenever the watch is underwater, and I also get accumulated negative elevation data which I assume is also from the watch being underwater. But all of these are understandable and don't impact the quality of the important data I am interested in.

If any other surfers are reading this, please let me know if you also experience unrealistic spikes in speed etc, just so I know whether this is normal, or if I need to have my watch checked. Also, to any other surfers out there, which parameter settings work best for surfing specifically?

To answer your other questions, yes, I do have GLONASS activated and no I haven't been wearing a wetsuit at all... we're lucky like that in Durban with our 24 deg Celsius water... ;-)

Maybe I'll test it like this for a few more sessions to see how it performs, and if it I keep getting strange results, I'll try creating a new activity from scratch, or copy another activity as you suggested. You use yours on the SUP activity, correct?

My watch just downloaded a new update for the SurfTracker2. I assume this is the 2.50 version you're referring to?

Once again, thank you for your time and efforts, all of which are greatly appreciated.

Brendon

bwd1 over 7 years ago

Hi Brendon: yes try the new update and that will hopefully fix the high speeds in your wave stats. You are probably right about the sup/surf differences. I do sup, but I'm on a little 6-10 and fall in quite a bit. I do get gaps but haven't seen any spikes yet. But as you said, surfing would have the watch arm in the water longer and might be pushing the limits of the app. I would try getting your watch arm out of the water as quick as you can at the end of a ride. Also if you have Glonass on then try it off. Your watch is most likely okay if it works for other activities. I use the SUP app on my 935, but with my old 920 I used the Paddle app with no issues.

Let me know how the new version works. I haven't water tested it yet. For your second example with the false positives, you could try 13, 6, 16, 0.

Former Member over 7 years ago

When Garmin will decide to fix the issue of SurfTracker datafield for fenix3 HR?....or made a new surf app?